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Eyes/Non-crusty Swollen eye?

miss.lyonice

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Today I noticed Zu's left eye seemed to be a bit swollen. Not specifically the eyelid, but the eyeball. It seemed to be protruding a bit. I hadn't really noticed it before now. The other day I did see a tiny bit of discharge in the corner of her eye. Her eye wasn't swollen at that point, so I thought nothing of it, I just wiped it off lightly and she was fine. Today I saw that it was a sticking out farther than her other eye and grew a bit concerned. I called the vet today and they told me it would $70 to bring her in, just for an appointment. I'm trying to find the money to afford it, and I think I can, so I'm calling back tomorrow morning to schedule an appointment. But I was wondering if you guys have seen this before. All I know is recently I've gotten one of those snuggle sacks, and she seems to really like it. But I've also switched laundry detergents, so that could be a cause. Or maybe she got something in her eye at some point. I'm not sure, I haven't monitored them too closely for the last few days because I'm taking my SATs and I'm studying 24/7. I took the snuggle sack out because maybe the fleece rubbing on her eye could have irritated it. I'm attaching two photos. One of her other eye and one of the eye in question. The photo of the eye in question does make it look a bit more bad than it does in real life (because of the flash) but I figured it would work. I waved my hand in front of each eye, and she reacted, so I know nothing is specifically wrong with her sight. I'm just not sure how this happened or what was the cause.
IMG_20171005_162335.jpgIMG_20171005_162354.jpg
 

2piggies1

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Hi sorry to hear your piggies is in pain. I'm not trying to be mean here, but never get an animal that you cant provide for when they need urgent care. You should have enough to bring her to the vets at $70. You should IMMEDIATELY go to the vets and see exactly what is wrong with her. I've never experienced eye problems myself, but you should check out https://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html . Also, what detergent do you use? if you use any with dye or perfume that is a huge no. Detergents should be dye free and perfume free since guinea pigs are very sensitive to smell. If she was in the snuggle snack a lot, then the detergent could be irritating her eye. The only other thing i can think of is a hay poke. Please go to the vets asap. Your piggie shouldn't suffer because you don't have the money at the time or are too busy.
 

bpatters

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She needs to see a vet. It's probably a hay poke, but eye injuries are incredibly painful, and if it gets infected, she may lose the eyeball. At this stage, what she probably needs is an antibiotic ointment and pain meds, which is a much cheaper treatment than having to have her eye removed.
 

miss.lyonice

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Hi sorry to hear your piggies is in pain. I'm not trying to be mean here, but never get an animal that you cant provide for when they need urgent care. You should have enough to bring her to the vets at $70. You should IMMEDIATELY go to the vets and see exactly what is wrong with her. I've never experienced eye problems myself, but you should check out https://www.guinealynx.info/eyes.html . Also, what detergent do you use? if you use any with dye or perfume that is a huge no. Detergents should be dye free and perfume free since guinea pigs are very sensitive to smell. If she was in the snuggle snack a lot, then the detergent could be irritating her eye. The only other thing i can think of is a hay poke. Please go to the vets asap. Your piggie shouldn't suffer because you don't have the money at the time or are too busy.

I do have the money to pay to get her into the vet, it's just came at a time where I've been short on cash in general. I've put back $40 in an emergency fund so far, but I literally just got her and this happened, I was a bit optimistic in thinking nothing bad could happen in the first few weeks. Thankfully my mom helped me out and is going to give me some money to add to my fund incase we need it in the future. We're bringing her to the vet tomorrow hopefully. The detergent doesn't have any dyes or anything. I'm severely allergic to 99% of detergent with dyes and such, but we've switched to a cheaper brand that's dye/perfume free. I'm kind of dropping everything and rescheduling my test for right now :/

edit: trust me, you're not being mean, lol. I appreciate the advice. I just thought "oh if I save $10 a week from the time I get her, I'll have enough to bring her to the vet if she needs it. There is no way she'll get sick in the first four weeks....and then this happened ._. you just never think it's gonna happen so quickly.
 
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miss.lyonice

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getting her in the vet tomorrow evening. It was hard finding one around me, but thankfully I found one.
 

miss.lyonice

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I can't really tell from the picture that the eye is protruding but it definitely looks irritated and seems bloodshot. I would be leaning towards the thought that she either got a hay poke or something in the eye. Does she live by herself or are there other pigs in her cage? Could another pig have scratched her eye during play?

I would definitely take her in to see a veterinarian as eye injuries can become very serious. One of my pigs got a hay poke in her eye late one night and I was so panicked that I took her to a 24-hour emergency clinic. They diagnosed it right away and gave her some eye ointment. It only took a few days of treatment and her eye completely cleared up.

Hopefully, Zu's eye problem will be minor and she will be back to good health in just a short time.

she lives by herself. She's very solitary and has fought and drawn blood from every guinea pig we've ever paired her with. She enjoys humans, not so much other guinea pigs. We're bringing her to an vet tomorrow.
 

2piggies1

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glad to hear you're bringing her to the vets! I hope its something that can be easily fixed:)
 

2piggies1

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I completely understand the mind set. i was the exact same way. But our little pigs are always doing something crazy and get hurt or sick sometimes. in the end its all worth it though:)
 

miss.lyonice

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update: We were thankful enough to find ONE vet a few miles away that had just enough room to fit us in an appointment the same day. We brought her in and they put a dye in her eye and found she had a pretty big scratch. I'm assuming it was from hay. The vet also told us to give her some vitamin D supplements on top of her vitamin D enriched diet for the period of time she was sick (I'm not sure why to be honest) and gave us a tube of vetropolycin ointment and told us to put it in her eye 3 times a day. Her eye looks about the same, but it's been less than 24 hours. Vet billed ended up being cheaper than expected. I went to a different one than I was talking about in the original post. The initial appointment ended up being $51 which was a relief, and after the dye being put in her eye, the vitamin D supplements, AND the ointment itself, it ended up being like $133. I've taken a bit of money out of my college fund and moved it into a vet fund because I'm getting a job soon and I can just put that money back as I go, but I have an established vet fund right now in case anything happens again. Zu has been sleeping most the day today because her vet visit yesterday was really stressful. We go back on Thursday for a checkup to make sure everything is good. I'm just glad we could find a vet that was able to take her in. The vet I went to was called "Priest Lake Animal Hospital in Antioch, Tennessee" I loved it. The vet was really nice and tried to help us out cost wise. She's doing better now. Just sleeping more often. But hell, I would be too if I was a stressed as she was on the way to, while in, and on the way back from the vet.
 

Guinea Pig Papa

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Thank you so much for the update on Zu, I hope she feels better soon!
 

Spartan021

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go to your local farm feed store and buy an eye treatment medication use it as instructed if the swelling isn't gone in a week then go to the vet
 

bpatters

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@Spartan021, the problem has been treated. And that's not a good recommendation for guinea pigs. Ophthalmic ointments for other animals, such as dogs and cats, may not be safe for guinea pigs, since there are certain antibiotics that they cannot safely take. Most feed stores do not carry ophthalmic medications for guinea pigs. Please do not make recommendations on the medical board.
 

Spartan021

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ok I will make note not to make those sorts of recommendations. and what I was referring to was vetericyn ophthalmic gel which says its safe for all animal species, and most people say its safe for guinea pigs. I have asked before. and Wilcox carries at most locations
 
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